Judul : Cadillac’s new CT6 plug-in is our new favorite Caddy — here’s why
link : Cadillac’s new CT6 plug-in is our new favorite Caddy — here’s why
Cadillac’s new CT6 plug-in is our new favorite Caddy — here’s why
Cadillac
It plugs in!
Cadillac rolled out the CT6 to much fanfare at a spectacularly ambitious party at the 2015 New York auto show. A year later, the full-size sedan — Cadillac’s “flagship” vehicle — hit dealerships. Just in time for consumer tastes to shift decisively toward luxury crossovers and SUVs.
Caddy sells those, too, so the CT6’s sluggish debut isn’t a huge deal. Besides, every other luxury brand is in the same boat. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Jaguar, Volvo, Acura, Lincoln, Infiniti and even Maserati and Alfa Romeo are selling sedans when the market is saying “No thanks” and gobbling up crossovers.
Cadillac’s new XT5 crossover, for what it’s worth, has been wildly successful. It’s now moving 6,000 units a month, in less than a year of being on sale.
We sampled the CT6 last year and were plentifully impressed with the big Caddy.
“The CT6 sits squarely at the intersection of luxury and performance,” we wrote in our review.
Our test car tipped the price scales at $82,000. Caddy recently invited us to check out the latest CT6, the plug-in hybrid version, on a drive up the Hudson River, to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a culinary mecca about an hour north of Manhattan. The Chinese-built CT6 plug-in tips the scales at $75,000 (there is one trim and one trim only) and makes use of a gas-hybrid electric drive system linked to a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engines that can be had on the gas-only CT6.
Here’s how it went:
First off, Cadillac walked us through the ins and outs of the CT6 plugin’s engineering. A critical feature is its innovative transmission, which combines a “CVT”-type system for good fuel economy and a more traditional setup for driving pleasure. It was designed to satisfy whatever torque demands the driver in making.
Caddy doesn’t call it CVT — continuous variable transmission, essentially an infinite number of gears keys to engine speed — but rather an “electrically variable transmission” (EVT).
There was a flotilla of fully charged CT6s awaiting us when the briefing ended.
The car doesn’t look at all different from the original CT6, unless you look quite closely.
Here’s the CT6 that you cant plug in, for comparison. Both cars proudly wear the Caddy badge.
The CT6 is an impressive car. We named it a runner-up for our 2016 Car of the Year award. In our review, we said:
The CT6 sits squarely at the intersection of luxury and performance. Yes, you can find a far fancier premium sedan, but there’s a clarity and simplicity to the design that should achieve broad appeal among four-door diehards, an important but diminishing demographic. You can also find better performers, but they aren’t as passenger-friendly. This is universal luxury, and Cadillac is taking the lead.
The clue that this isn’t a fully gas-powered CT6 is sort of hidden away, at the right rear where the “2.0 E” designation is found. The 2.0 part is the size of the gas engine, which is a four-cylinder turbocharged powerplant.
In combination with the electric motors, the overall hybrid powerplant cranks out 334 horsepower and 432 pound-feet or juicy electric-assisted torque. Top speed is a Caddy claimed 78 mph in EV mode, with a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds.
And of course, this is more than a Caddy that zigs. It zigs on ee-lec-tricity! There are two electric motors, and the range on electric only is 31 miles. Once that’s depleted, the batteries can be regenerated through braking and can assist the gas engine.
There are multiple regeneration modes, labeled from M1-M4.
You select based on how much active regen you’re in the mood for. Recharging can be accomplished with 120V wall outlet and both Level 2 AC and Level 3 DC. With 240V charging, you be back to full in 4.5 hours, Caddy says. Faster Level 3 charging get you there quicker, but it’s less widespread.
We made a scenic stop at the Cloisters, at the northern reaches of Manhattan.
Then we continued on to Blue Hill at Stone Barns for a sit-down lunch. The CT6 carried us in comfort and style.
It’s a nicely appointed large executive sedan — a fitting flagship for Cadillac.
Of the non-plug-in CT6, in my review I said:
[T]he CT6 is a great combination of cruiser and sort of sport sedan. In Tour mode, it’s relatively muted, but in Sport mode, it perks up. You can flip the paddles yourself, but I stayed with automatic for the most part and enjoyed the fact that I was in a sharp-handling, large sedan that didn’t toss me around. The CT6 is no beast — although this Premium Luxury trim level can do a claimed 0-60 mph in just over five seconds — but the torque-y twin-turbo V6 does a very good imitation of beefier V8.
Honestly, the plugin CT6 errs more on the side of being a comfy cruiser, with a focus on fuel economy. The turbo four banger, even with the electric boost, won’t make you think you have a V8 hiding under the hood.
We saddled up after lunch for the drive back to NYC.
So what’s the verdict on this unusual Cadillac sedan?
Cadillac doesn’t expect to sell many in the US — only about 1,000 for this model year. China, where the CT6 is assembled (using many exported US components, including the hybrid gas-electric drivetrain), is a different story. The goal there is more like 5,000.
But here’s the thing: Caddy should sell more CT6 plugins in the US. Even though the gas-only CT6 is a peppy ride, I don’t think it’s going to convince anyone that it’s a BMW. Yes, it has some punch. But the typical use case will be more Caddy of Old: tooling around town and freeway cruising.
Because of that, the hybrid gas-electric drivetrain makes a ton of sense. Your MPGe rating, according to Caddy, is a whopping 62! With a max range of 440 miles!
Those MPGs are Toyota Prius-like numbers. From my perspective, if you expect to use the big Caddy as a luxurious cruiser — and that’s its mojo, after all — then why wouldn’t you want all the oomph of a torque-y electric setup with the attendant fuel economy? Who cares if it only has four pots under the hood?
I basically loved it, and I didn’t need the additional specialized info-gauges and displays to convince. A nice leather seat, SiriusXM radio tuned to Classic Vinyl, “Tour” versus “Sport” mode for smoother power delivery, and the understanding that I could spare some battery juice by going into “Hold” mode for if I expected stop-and-go traffic.
I typically don’t make purchasing recommendations, but if I were going to buy a Caddy, and I wasn’t going for something bonkers like the Corvette-with-four-doors CTS-V, I’d get the CT6 plugin. It has everything the regular CT6 does, plus excellent MPG numbers. And at less than $80,000, with Cadillac’s premium appointments, a nice big back seat, and GM’s industry-leading suite of infotainment and connectivity features, it’s an excellent value even before you add up the fuel savings.
New favorite Caddy? I think so.
Read more stories on Business Insider, Malaysian edition of the world’s fastest-growing business and technology news website.
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